Faded Emeralds
by Olivia Dunham
Summary: Glinda is charged with the murder of Fiyero. The new face that takes over after her isn't going to make Oz better like he promises. Elphaba is still on the run with Fiyero, and nothing in Oz will ever be the same. Gloq, Fiyerba, Gelphie-friendship.


_So, this has nothing to do with my other story, Of Emerald Cities and Ruby Slippers. This was just another idea I had. I'm not sure if I should continue it or not. But it does follow a bit of musical and book canon. Also, I wasn't sure of Irji's age in this because it's never specifically stated, but I know he's the oldest son, so I made him about seventeen. I hope no one has a problem with that. If they do, let me know and I can change it a bit._

**X**

_I hope you're happy, right now._

Night had fallen all across Oz, but parties still raged on, continuing on into the night. It had been confirmed, the Wicked Witch was dead and no longer would she reign terror upon Oz. People danced, sang, and rejoiced all across the wide nation, and adding to the celebrations was the news of a new ruler of Oz. The Wizard had taken his leave, and in his place had stepped the beautiful blonde young girl who had been the Witch's best friend in university.

Of course, most people didn't know about that particular part of her history.

As the parties raged across the country like wildfire, one figure stood alone outside the castle of Kiamo Ko. A hood covered the figure's face, but beneath the cloak, if one looked hard enough, one would see the beautiful, sparkling gown hidden beneath, and the bright red shoes the figure held, concealed as well.

Once inside the old castle, the figure became confused for a moment in the darkness of it all. A pale, slender hand extended forward and the candles on the wall lit up, flooding the entryway with light.

Along the walls, several rude things had been written in green paint, and everything looked like it had been rooted through or destroyed. People out partying had already decided to ruin the castle, apparently, as some sort of celebration of the Witch's death. As the figure ascended the stairs, there was less graffiti along the walls – obviously most had not dared to move up farther into the towers, afraid some of the Witch's traps or spells might get them. It was really a shame – the castle was, and always had been quite beautiful.

A quick glance down either hallway, the figure found the second set of stairs that led up to the tower of the castle. It was long and narrow, but the door was finally spotted and pushed open. Another wave of a hand and the candles lit up. The room was rather a mess, books and pages that had been ripped from them all strewn about, as if someone had gone into a fit of anger in the room. A looking-glass was shattered across the floor in the corner of the tower room, and a heavy book lay propped up against its stand.

The figure glided toward the opening that led out onto a wide balcony that circled the entire tower. Not two steps to her left lay an abandoned bucket of water, and beside that, a black pointed hat that looked all too familiar to the figure.

Finally, pale hands reached up and removed the hood, allowing long curls of blonde hair to fall down her back, contrasting against the darkness of the cloak. Black usually wasn't her color. The woman pulled the pair of sparkling red shoes from within the cloak, kneeling to set them down next to the hat. She grabbed the bucket, tossing it aside and not really caring where it landed.

"These shoes were always supposed to be yours." Glinda Upland whispered, still kneeling on the ground for a moment. "I'm so, so sorry Elphie. It's my fault you've ended up like this."

As she stood, a warm breeze blew her hair about her face, causing the pale strands to tickle her cheeks. She looked around, frowning slightly, feeling suddenly as if she were being watched. She peered over the balcony, across the lands of the Vinkus that were blanketed with darkness of night. She sighed gently, and went back inside the room, holding back the tears that wanted to fall. She had to be strong. If not for herself, then for Elphaba, and for Oz.

Her gaze went back to the book in the corner, resting against the smashed looking glass. She crossed the room, and picked it up – it was rather heavy, and it took a moment for Glinda to recognize just what it was.

_The Grimmerie_.

She ran her fingers across the weathered surface of it for a moment, her mouth opened in silent awe. Morrible hadn't let her touch, but she'd remembered Elphaba reading from it, that day in the Wizard's throne room. She'd made Chistery fly. It was a legendary book; one that Glinda knew held plenty of magic, most of it beyond anything she'd ever tried before. Part of her felt the need to leave it, or hide it to where it would never be used for evil again, but another, larger part of her felt the need to keep it and possibly use it. She could learn the spells, and if used in the right way, she figured maybe it would do good instead of evil. It couldn't be that hard, right?

Right?

She sighed, and tucked the book beneath her cloak, turning toward the door. She'd made it halfway across the room when the door flew open and two of the Gale Force guards stood there, holding their weapons tightly. She could hear more guards coming up the stairs.

"Empress, we've been looking all over for you. We thought -."

"I am fine." She cut across the one who had spoken, forcing a smile and holding back the tears that were growing closer to falling, the more she thought about it. "How did you find me?"

"We thought you might be here." The second spoke. "Excuse me if I'm overstepping Empress, but are you all rig -?"

"I'm fine." She said dismissively, waving the hand that wasn't holding the Grimmerie at him. He nodded once.

"You should return to the Emerald City with us at once. It isn't safe." The first one spoke. Glinda merely nodded, and allowed herself to be escorted out.

It took them very little time to reach the Emerald City – but much more time than it had taken Glinda to get the Vinkus in the first place. She'd gone instantly to bed and had barely gotten three hours to sleep before she had to be up again, awakened by one of the servants informing her that in honor of the Witch's death and her ascension to the Ozian throne, she was supposed to host some sort of big to-do party. Glinda normally liked parties, but not when running on three hours of sleep. Not to mention the stacks of official papers that awaited her in her new office because the Wizard had neglected them the last few days of his reign.

"Empress, the invitations have already been sent out, and all have been returns from the receivers saying they will be attending. You will have quite an audience." The Captain of the Gale Force said as he entered her office after a brief knock.

"I know, Avaric." Glinda replied quietly, setting down her pen and looking up at him. "Is there any word?"

"None. We can't find him at all."

"So he completely disappeared after helping that little girl to get here? There's no sign of the Scarecrow at all?"

"No, I'm sorry Miss. We did find the Tin Man -."

"I know where he is. He's going to be here tonight anyway. I want you to keep looking. He couldn't have just disappeared."

"Yes ma'am." Avaric replied. Glinda nodded.

"Thank you. Let me know the minute you find something." She said quietly. "Or don't. I'll expect a report by the end of the week."

"Of course."

"You're dismissed."

He left the office, leaving Glinda alone. She rubbed her temples, a headache forming within the deep recesses of her mind. This was going to be a hard job, she knew it, but there was no changing that now. She was on her own anymore – Elphie, Nessa and Fiyero were gone, Boq wasn't probably going to speak to her for quite sometime, and all her school friends had moved on with their lives. Glinda hardly wanted to stay in touch with their kind anyway. It was true she used to be one of them – stuck up and snobby like the best of them – but not anymore. Galinda, the snobby little brat who got her way every time was gone, leaving behind Glinda, soon to be one of the best leaders since Empress Ozma. At least, she hoped. There was so much left in Oz to fix; the Wizard had damaged everything, so it was her job to fix it, and restore Oz to its once former beauty.

A task that would be harder than anything Glinda had ever done before.

Her gaze flickered to the _Grimmerie_, which lay stack on top of a pile of books in the corner of the room, next to the shelves of ancient texts she'd found. She hadn't had a chance to go through any of them yet. Getting to her feet, Glinda crossed the room and picked up the heavy book, bringing it back to her desk and setting it down, flipping open to the first page.

Something like an electrical jolt jumped up her arm and she frowned, but ignored it and turned her attention to the writing across the page. Some of it was faded and worn, but still perfectly readable – if you could read the ancient language that was. Glinda had taken a single class on it in school, so she could only make out about half the words on the page, if that. The rest looked foreign to her.

Well, she'd just have to figure it out.

Not long after, Glinda returned to her room to change into one of the sparkling ball gowns her entire closet had been stocked with, while she had been sleeping. They were all in her favorite colors, and very much her style, which she was thankful for. She chose to wear the long, emerald green, rhinestone studded dress in honor of two things – her new home at the Emerald City, and Elphaba. Of course, most people would just think her choice of color would be for the Emerald City, not for her best friend. This was just how Glinda wanted to keep it.

By the time she was ready, she had been informed most of the guests had already arrived. Butterflies suddenly came to life in her stomach, though why, she didn't know. Probably because she was about to face every important figure in Oz, involved in politics or not. Anyone who was anybody would be here, all for her. It made her slightly nervous that she would mess up or offend someone, but she tried not to think of that as she walked down the hall, heels clicking noisily across the floor.

"Announcing Empress Glinda of Oz."

The guard at the door announced her as the double doors to the throne room opened up and revealed the crowd that had showed. The people dancing stopped, the music fading down for a moment as they all looked at her, hundreds of eyes on her. She put a dazzling smile on her face, striding forward, and slightly surprised when they parted for her, leaving a path up to the throne for her to follow.

Glinda crossed the room between the parted crowd, flashing her brilliant smile at them all and keeping her head held high. Her heels were the only sound in the room, and everything seemed surreal to her. As if this shouldn't have been happening. Things sparkled around her like some sort of dream as she reached the throne. Tugging at her skirts, she sat down at the throne, gazing out at the crowd as they moved together again. They remained silent, obviously expecting her to make some sort of speech.

"Thank you all for coming." She said suddenly, breaking the silence. "I'm glad you are all just as happy about this twister of events as I am, and I hope as I do my best to fix Oz after the Wizard's reign and the Witch's events of terror, you all will remain on my side." She spoke in a clear and confident tone, suddenly feeling as if she were speaking at one of the poetry readings at Shiz again. People clapped, and the music began playing again, couples coming together to resume their dances in a swirl of bright shades of green – it seemed everyone had worn green, except in varying shades.

Glinda sat there most of the party, silently sipping at a single glass of champagne. Several people asked her to dance, but she kindly declined – its not that she didn't want to dance, but she was too tired to really be on her feet much.

However, her peace was not to last.

The double doors she had come through not too long ago were suddenly thrown open by several Gale Force guards that stood there, holding very intimidating weapons. Several people gasped or screamed, stepping back away from the doors as the music came to a screeching halt. Glinda got to her feet, setting her glass down as the guards parted, revealing Avaric, looking very displeased.

"Glinda Upland!" He called as Glinda stepped down from the throne. People parted once more, leaving her standing across the room from Avaric.

"What is the meaning of this?" She demanded, high pitched tone ringing throughout the entire room.

"I have orders for your arrest."

"By who and on what charges!?"

"By me."

Behind Avaric, a younger man, who looked barely older than sixteen, dressed in a sharp black suit emerged, hands shoved deep into his pockets. He grinned at her, and Glinda frowned. She knew him. Where did she know him from?

"Don't recognize me fair Glinda? Perhaps if you kept in contact with your former friend before she died, you would know. After all, she is responsible for the death of my little brother, and probably the disappearance of my sister. But you – you, beautiful Empress, are the one who is going to pay for the death of my father." He spoke in a quiet tone, but Glinda heard him very clearly, her thoughts swirled.

"Who are you?"

"I am Irji Tiggular, former Prince of the Vinkus. Guards, arrest her."

The guards rushed toward her, and grabbed her by the arms. Glinda struggled as they began to drag her away. Her mind reeled as she grew closer to Irji, who looked positively smug.

"Your father isn't death Irji! Don't you understand?! I was trying to find him! Ask Avaric!" Glinda protested.

"Ah, Miss Glinda, do not try that. My father is dead. And even if it is not directly your fault, it is the fault of your best friend, the Wicked Witch!"

Murmurs ran throughout the crowd as Glinda screamed, thrashing in the guards' grip. It was no use, however, because they held her tightly in place.

"I, Irji, have come to take the place of the former Glinda the Good, and will rule Oz better than anyone you have ever seen!" He announced to the room, running a hand through the dark curls that were – or had been – the exact colors of Fiyero's. _It's odd, the resemblance,_ Glinda thought briefly, but returned to her struggling. Irji turned to Glinda, a smirk on his face as he took a curl of her hair, twirling it around his finger. She jerked back, pulling her hair out of his grasp with an angry look on her face.

"I didn't do anything to you!"

"Take her away." Was the only response she got. The guards began to drag her out, ignoring her violent protests.

_Isn't he wonderful? Our wonderful wizard!_

**X**

_Hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you'd like to see this continued! Reviews are love!_


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